The policy debates around climate change can often seem overwhelming, especially to newcomers to the subject. Its all-permeating nature as an issue which affects everything and everyone is matched by the exceptional depth of complexity and technicality of the debates around it. Getting to grips with the different issues, dynamics and perspectives at play in terms of the ‘global North’/‘global South’ (or ‘developed/developing world’, or ‘rich/poor nations’) is also crucial to understanding these debates, and can be especially daunting. Bolivia, as a resource-limited country on the coalface of climate impacts, which has also taken quite a strong, often alternative, public stance in climate negotiations, makes an interesting and instructive test case for exploring this nexus of issues further.

To help citizens to understand the key debates and what they look like from a global Southern perspective, former Democracy Center researcher and climate negotiator Rebecca Hollender has written this set of three Bolivia Climate Primers. These ‘101s’ seek to help anyone who is interested get a better grasp of the basics of current policies and proposals on the table around mitigation, adaptation and climate finance, and what implications they have for Bolivia. We hope that you will find these useful, whether you are an activist, a student, a researcher, or just generally interested in the subject.